The Bromley Common Practice would like to know how they can improve their service to you and how you perceive the surgery and staff. The practice has therefore set up a Patient Participation Group (PPG).

We (the PPG) are an active and committed group of patients who help give all patients at the practice a voice.

We are also looking for new members. If you're interested why not sign up or get in touch using one of the links below. We need young people, workers, retirees, people with long term conditions and people from non-British ethnic groups, in order to be truly representative.

We will be in touch shortly after we receive your form. Please note that no medical information or questions will be responded to.

Many thanks for your assistance,

The Bromley Common Practice PPG

The information you supply us will be used lawfully, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to know what information is held about you and sets out rules to make sure that this information is handled properly.

THE BROMLEY COMMON PRACTICE PPG

END OF YEAR REPORT - APRIL 2014 - MARCH 2015

Prerequisite of Enhanced Service – Develop/Maintain a Patient Participation Group (PPG)

Does the Practice have a PPG?

YES

Method(s) of engagement with PPG: Face to face, Email, Other (please specify)

Face to face and email.

Number of members of PPG: 13

Detail the gender mix of practice population and PPG:

%

Male

Female

Practice

48

52

PRG

23

77

Detail of age mix of practice population and PPG:

%

<16

17-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65-74

> 75

Practice

20

8

10

13

15

12

10

11

PRG

8

23

8

23

38

8

Detail the ethnic background of your practice population and PRG:

White

Mixed/ multiple ethnic groups

British

Irish

Gypsy or Irish traveller

Other white

White &black Caribbean

White &black African

White &Asian

Other mixed

Practice

82 (non ethnic minority)

Not differentiated in the JSNA

82 (non ethnic minority)

Not differentiated in the JSNA

82 (non ethnic minority)

Not differentiated in the JSNA

82 (non ethnic minority)

Not differentiated in the JSNA

PRG

84

Asian/Asian British

Black/African/Caribbean/Black British

Other

Indian

Pakistani

Bangladeshi

Chinese

Other

Asian

African

Caribbean

Other Black

Arab

Any other

Practice

0.5

2.5

0.5

3

1

3.5

2.5

3

2

PRG

8

8

N.B: Figures for ethnic background of practice population (not PPG) have been taken from Bromley’s 2014 JSNA, in line with page 52 of Contract Audit Guidance. The practice did not have a representative sample of ethnicity coded within its clinical system as many patients do not disclose this to the practice.

.

Describe steps taken to ensure that the PPG is representative of the practice population in terms of gender, age and ethnic background and other members of the practice population:

The practice has had a PPG for many years and it is slowly becoming more representative over time. The practice advertises for new members via posters in the waiting room and on its website. The practice has also had a couple of recruitment drives where clinicians, reception staff and PPG members have been tasked with inviting patients from specific underrepresented groups to join. The Practice Manager also recruited one member following a compliant being made! These initiatives have had some success. Over the past 3 years the group has many more members overall, but also a wider mix of ages, genders and ethnicities.

Are there any specific characteristics of your practice population which means that other groups should be included in the PPG? e.g. a large student population, significant number of jobseekers, large numbers of nursing homes, or a LGBT community?

No

If you have answered yes, please outline measures taken to include those specific groups and whether those measures were successful:

Review of patient feedback

Outline the sources of feedback that were reviewed during the year:

Complaints

NHS Website

FFT

Suggestions from suggestions box

Diabetic questionnaire feedback

Ad hoc feedback

How frequently were these reviewed with the PRG?

5

Action plan priority areas and implementation

Priority area 1

Description of priority area:

Improve Telephone Access

What actions were taken to address the priority?

The Practice Manager has researched various telephone companies to find one that can deliver us a new phone system configured in such a way as to make the most use of the current lines. Of particular importance to the PPG was the ability for patients to be on hold and know their position in the queue. This has been built into the proposal by the winning company and the order for the new system has been placed.

Result of actions and impact on patients and carers (including how publicised):

Although the practice is still waiting for the phone system to be delivered, the configuration is finalised and the practice has managed to ensure that there will be call queuing, amongst other features. The PPG and practice expect this to have a positive impact on patients and their carers who will now be in a position to make an informed decision about whether to wait on hold or call back another time during busy periods.

The introduction of the new phone system has been published on the website and via noticeboards in the waiting room.

Priority area 2

Description of priority area:

To help patients better manage their own care

What actions were taken to address the priority?

Links to patient information leaflets and reputable websites were added to the practice website, and signposted from home screen.

Practice Manager had meeting with clinicians in the practice to encourage them to print patient information leaflets (when appropriate) for newly diagnosed patients to take home wth them on how to manage their condition.

Letters sent to patients with certain long term conditions to invite them to the Self-Management UK courses commissioned by Bromley CCG.

Result of actions and impact on patients and carers (including how publicised):

The PPG were confident that all the above actions would help patients and their carers feel more confident about managing their health conditions.

At the March PPG meeting it was discussed that the practice had some further feedback from patients regarding the Self-Management UK courses. The responders had been very positive about the offer, but complained that the letters were sent to close to the course start date. This was fed back to the course team to ensure it doesn’t happen again and the patients that gave feedback were invited to a course starting a few weeks later.

There was midyear feedback that although there was patient information on the website this wasn’t obvious enough and the Practice Secretary tasked with highlighting its presence on the home screen. This will enable patients to have easier access to reputable sources of self-care advice which they can then refer to.

Clinicians reported generally positive feedback from patients when they were given information sheets during their consultations.

There are posters in the waiting room telling patients that information is available on the website, as well as posters and leaflets available regarding the Self Management UK courses in case patients wish to self-refer.

The PPG also intend to make ‘self-care’ the topic of their next PPG Newsletter.

Priority area 3

Description of priority area:

Premises, comprising specifically of:

Move into new premises. Ensure that the new surgery has adequate furniture and furnishings to meet patient preference, as well as infection control standards. Communicate to patients about the forthcoming move. Settle patients into the new premises and resurvey them to ensure they remain satisfied with the service being provided and in order to find ways to continue to improve

What actions were taken to address the priority?

The practice had already secured new premises prior to this year. It was hoped that the move would have taken place by Christmas 2014. However due to unavoidable delays in construction the move is now due to take place in Spring/Summer 2015

The Practice Manager has discussed the new premises at length with the PPG several times over the course of the year to keep them abreast of the delays and also to hear their views on what type of furniture, furnishings and décor they would appreciate. The practice had received some feedback from patients via the suggestions box too (for example, about the fact that they don’t feel carpet in the current waiting room is hygienic) and these views were fed into discussions too.

The practice has added more information regarding its move to the practice website and via posters in the waiting room. There is a notice board dedicated to the move and this includes the developers Gantt Chart showing the progress being made towards the expected move in date. The PPG also produces a newsletter and has been using this as a way to update patients on the move. The newsletter is emailed out to patients who have signed up online and copies are also left in the waiting rooms for patients to read whilst waiting for their appointments or take home with them. Until the practice has a definitive move date it is unable to write to individual patients so in the meantime the PPG felt these are the best ways to keep patients informed. Staff are also updated with progress so that they can inform patients who would like more information than that which is displayed. The Practice Manager, who has been project managing the move, has been available to meet any patients who have concerns and questions. Once the Practice has been given a definitive move date, as well as writing to individual patients, the practice is also planning to advertise in the local Newspaper at the suggestion of the PPG.

As the move date has been delayed no action has yet been taken on the PPGs plans to survey patients post move, but this will still be done later in 2015 to ensure patients are settling in well.

Result of actions and impact on patients and carers (including how publicised):

Thanks to the input of PPG members the practice has chosen furniture and fabrics which are both practical and hygienic, and in line with patient preferences. The practice will have a range of seats available to ensure patients are comfortable and those with mobility issues are accommodated for. The practice has also placed orders to ensure there will be laminate flooring instead of carpets in communal and clinical areas; there will be information screens in the waiting rooms to call patients to their appointments but also to enable the practice to disseminate health advice; there will be self-check-in screens to stop patients having to wait for a receptionist during busy times; the colours chosen are bright yet calming. The PPGs views have been invaluable to the practice in this regard.

There will also be a health promotion room where the practice hopes to encourage groups to run healthy living events for patients, such as diabetic education. This will also fit with the previous priority point of enabling patients to take better care of their own health.

The posters in the waiting rooms have been very well received by patients and carers, many of whom hadn’t previously been aware that the practice was moving. The posters have engaged patients and enabled them to keep track of the development and see its progress by way of photographs. It is hoped that seeing the building ahead of the move, via the photographs, will help patients settle sooner when the move happens, but only time will tell. The practice manager has been taken up a few times on her offer to meet with individual patients with specific concerns, and she feels that this has been very positive with patients and their carers giving feedback that after the meeting they feel more confident and less anxious about the changes ahead.

Progress on previous years

Is this the first year your practice has participated in this scheme?

No

If you have participated in this scheme for more than one year, outline progress made on issues raised in the previous year(s):

The two main outstanding actions from last year’s PPG annual report where to:

Survey current online users of appointment booking and prescription ordering features. This survey was closed and overall patients that used the website for these purposes were positive about it. Reporting that it was easy to use and more convenient than telephoning or coming to the practice. One negative comment which came up a few times was that there didn’t seem to be enough appointments available online. The practice responded to this by opening up far more of its appointments to be booked online. These are still able to be booked via the telephone too, so those without internet access do not miss out, but those who do now have more choice than they previously did. To implement a noticeboard regarding the move. As per previous notes this has been done and continually improved and updated over the course of the year following feedback and discussions with the PPG. PPG Sign Off

Report signed off by PPG:

Yes

Date of sign off: 30/3/15

How has the practice engaged with the PPG:

How has the practice made efforts to engage with seldom heard groups in the practice population?

The practice has worked hard to encourage as many different patients to give feedback as possible by offering a range of ways to do so: phone, in person, suggestions box, or online or by email. The practice also allows patients to leave anonymous feedback if they would rather do so.

The PPG is made up of patients who can make it to the meetings as well as those that can only contribute via email due to other commitments. The practice has specifically targeted certain groups of patients to encourage them to join up.

The PPG also create a newsletter which patients can sign up to via the website or collect a paper copy from the surgery. Copies are also left in the waiting room for patients to read/collect when waiting for their appointment. The newsletter is a great way to engage patients that don’t want to get involved personally but do want to be kept abreast of what’s happening at the practice.

Has the practice received patient and carer feedback from a variety of sources?

Was the PPG involved in the agreement of priority areas and the resulting action plan?

Yes the PPG meets regularly and helps the practice by giving them direction on what the priorities are and how they feel the practice could improve.

How has the service offered to patients and carers improved as a result of the implementation of the action plan?

Yes. Patients and their carer’s are more aware of and engaged with the forthcoming move to new premises. The practice has placed orders for furniture and décor in line with patients’ preferences to ensure the move is welcomed and the practice doesn’t risk repeating past mistakes (e.g. uncomfortable chairs, carpet in waiting rooms, chairs without arms which mobility impaired patients struggle to get in/out of). A new telephone system has been commissioned to enable patients to have easier access to the practice and also to know where they are in the queue.

Do you have any other comments about the PPG or practice in relation to this area of work?

The PPG also produce newsletters to keep patients informed of what is going on as well as key messages regarding the practice.

Complete and return to: nhscb.lon-sth-pcc@nhs.net by no later than 31 March 2015

Terms of Reference

Bromley Common Practice Patient Participation Group

Why

To act as a positive channel of communication between Patients and the Practice to maintain and improve the service for patients.

Who

Group membership to include up to 20 patients from the Practice plus a representative of the Practice Staff.Participants may be either ‘actual’ (ie meeting attendees) or ‘virtual’ (internet or email) members.For the purpose of decision making a quorum of 4 members in attendance is required.

What

To identify priority areas of concern to patients

To recommend issues for surveying a wider patient population on these areas of concern

To review the results and agree proposals to address any concerns found for consideration by the Practice

To agree with the practice a timescale for the implementation of any changes

To keep the wider patient population informed of the purposes and actions of the Group through information on the website and through newsletters available in the surgery

To report annually on the outcomes achieved

When

To meet a minimum of every 2 months, or more frequently according to need

Review

Terms of reference to be reviewed every 2 years

28.04.2015

Patient Participation Group (PPG) Annual Report 2011-12

The Bromley Common Practice has had a PPG for many years. However this year, due to encouragement from the Department of Health, we have expanded the group.

We wanted to have a group that was as representative of our practice population as possible. As such we put posters around the practice and ‘expressions of interest’ forms in the reception area. We also posted written invitations to a selection of housebound patients. Once the group had grown in size, the GPs and reception staff specifically targeted under-represented groups in order to encourage them to get involved.

We now have a group of 16 members, which represent a good cross section of our wider patient list. We have a mixture of both men (2) and women (14), and a range of ages (from 31-75yrs). We even surveyed a local primary school to gain some ideas from children on how they’d like to see the Practice improve. Many of our members are employed (either full or part time), some are stay-at-home parents, some are retired and a couple commute to London for work. The PPG is made up of people that can come to our 4-6 weekly meetings in person and those that would rather comment via email (or letter) on topics we’ve discussed (we call these people ‘virtual members’). The idea of opening up our membership to include patients that can't attend the meetings in person is so that we can still hear from patients that have very little free time, or are housebound. We really want to hear the views of as many people as possible.

Please get in touch if you’re interested in joining our group, we’re always looking for new members! We’re especially keen to have a few more male members and younger people involved.The wider the cross-section of members in the group, the broader the range of ideas we get. This is your practice- let us know how we can improve the services we offer.

In April last year a meeting was held to enable the current members to meet with new members. At this meeting all members (new and old) discussed their areas of priority, and their hopes for what the group could achieve over the coming year. We tried to make this meeting at a mutually convenient time for all members, but the members that couldn’t attend sent in their comments after receiving the minutes. At a following meeting, the areas of priority were finalised -taking account of the comments of members who had emailed in their views.

The areas of priority that were initially decided upon were:

More electronic communication between the Practice and patients

Better non-electronic communication about services offered, and the 'rules' of surgery

Phlebotomy on site

Reinstatement of practice newsletter

The Practice then began surveying a selection of all its patients. The idea of this exercise was to ensure that other patients agreed with the PPG as to what was important and needed improvement. We used an existing survey (called the 'GPAQ' –General Practice Assessment Questionnaire). This was chosen because the PPG felt it was better to use a questionnaire that was already validated and also that it would be a quicker and easier process.

We gave questionnaires to all patients that attended the practice (either for an appointment, or to collect prescriptions/test results, or on behalf of another patient), until a representative sample had been returned. We also posted the survey to all housebound patients and a random selection of patients that had not been to the practice for over 1yr. The PPG felt it important to get the views of patients that didn't often attend the Practice, in case there were reasons for this. By using the GPAQ survey the results could be easily entered into the GPAQ designed spreadsheets and reports generated.

As such the data was reported on, and the general survey findings were as follows:

Speed of service when required –be that repeat prescriptions or seeing a GP

Negatives:

Morning rush

Opening hours. In order of preference: Evenings, early mornings, weekends

Building restraints

Online appointments and repeat prescriptions

Sexual health and phlebotomy services wanted in-house

Notice needed to explain appointment times and options available

Some wanted the ability to ‘queue’ when phone engaged

Midwives need to be in downstairs room where possible

Waiting times

This report (including more in-depth statistical analysis) was then presented at the next PPG meeting, and particular attention was paid to those questions that related to the priority areas already chosen. The PPG discussed the findings of the report in order to formulate an action plan.

Practice Manager to be more selective with which posters are put up, so the walls are not so overcrowded.

Practice to look into holding phlebotomy clinics on site

Practice leaflets in the waiting room. Practice to update the leaflet, and then have copies available for patients to take home.

Practice to develop a website, with ability to book appointments and reorder prescriptions. The website should also give appointment information, clinic times, GP specialities, links to other organisations, and basic health information

Quarterly newsletter to be created, and made available on the website and in surgery.

Staff to wear badges and give names on telephone, so more approachable.

Extra hours. Ideally evenings, but early mornings would also be good, to enable those that work to attend. Even if only one day per week. Saturday surgeries appreciated so aim keep those too.

The Practice has implemented many of these ideas of the course of the year:

The posters have been created and notice boards tidied.

We have begun holding phlebotomy clinics at the practice one morning per week. We would love to extend this, but currently do not have enough room to do so.

A new Practice leaflet has been created and printed, and this is available at reception. The same information is also on the website which is regularly updated.

A website has been created (this one)! The Practice has ordered the software needed to enable online appointment booking and the reordering of prescriptions. This will be fully functioning later in the year. Currently you can request repeat medications and cancel appointments, but not yet book appointments via this method. Please continue to call or come into the surgery to make an appointment.

It was initially difficult to find a volunteer to create a regular newsletter, though one PPG member has recently expressed an interest and we hope to have this in place soon.

All non-clinical staff (receptionists, administrators adn the Practice Manager) now wear name badges, to make it easier for patients to know who they are talking to. All staff have also been asked to use their name on the telephone.

The Practice now offers appointments on alternate Saturdays, as well as from 0730am Mon-Fri (for pre-booked appointments only). Although at the current time the practice doesn’t have the resources to open any later than 1830 in the evening, we have opened up some more appointments at the end of the day before we close. This change was agreed with the local Primary Care Trust as our opening hours form part of our contract with them.

The practice has recently purchased a text message reminder system. This means that if you pre-book an appointment, and we have your mobile number on file, you will now receive a text message reminder of the day and time the day before. The aim of this is to stop patients pre-booking appointments and then forgetting to either attend or cancel. The Practice is busily trying to update patients' contact details (primarily their mobile numbers) to enable this to work effectively.

Do we have your number?

Please update it with a member of the reception team

Opening Hours:

As you can see from the ‘Opening Hours’ tab within this website, our opening hours are as follows:

The Patient Participation Group (PPG) met 7times during the year, with an average of 6 people attending, from a total of 12 members, under the chairmanship of Katie Mitchell, Practice Manager. If you're interested in how we recruited members or the make up of the group please see last years report which details this (see tab above).

Matters discussed included:

·The new IT system for electronic prescription and appointment booking which is now up and running

·The new email address for PPG is operational and is being manned, thanks to a member of the group, but has so far attracted few emails

·Publicity for the PPG: Katie has agreed a board area for the display of all PPG material, including Minutes of Meetings, PPG newsletter and Annual Report. A poster to continue to recruit to the PPG is displayed in the surgery waiting area and there is also an invitation on the PPG area of the website

·Future of the PPG: it was agreed that on-going recruitment is needed to maintain balanced and active participation; the aim is to be as inclusive as possible and to be as representative of the patient population as possible; the main limitation on meetings is time when both people and the waiting area are available, which is either lunchtime or at the end of surgery. It was decided to continue at lunchtime approximately every 6 weeks

·A member of the group has agreed to produce the quarterly newsletter, which will posted in the waiting area and also on the website

·Staff photos: it was suggested that photos of staff would be helpful in the waiting area; photos of all doctors are now in place

·Terms of Reference: it was decided that Terms of Reference should be set up for the group and following discussion these were agreed and have been placed on the Noticeboard in the Waiting area. These can be found in full via the tab above.

Patient survey2012-13

The aim was to survey 10%of the patient population regarding their satisfaction with services received and their awareness of appointment options. 700 forms were distributed over a 3 month period. The survey questions were devised by the group to incorporate our areas of priority based on our discussions and the work done last year. The questionnaire was given to all patients coming to the practice during those 3 months; it was also posted to a selection of housebound patients and patients that had not been seen in the practice in the last year, and it was available on the website for patients to complete from home/work.

We received responses from 475 patients (about 6% of total practice population), including those not only who attended the surgery but also those that are housebound.

Summary of the survey

You said:

·Satisfaction with the service:

60% or more of you were satisfied with accessing appointments by telephone, on their preferred day and with their choice of doctor. 57% were satisfied with the time of the appointment.

·Awareness of appointment options

76% of you were aware of the 7.30am option; 55% of (alternate) Saturday morning options; 80% of telephone appointments

·Awareness of PPG

34% of you were aware of the PPG, and 13% of the Quarterly Newsletter

Your comments

You were also asked for any comments you wanted to make. These were analysed by grouping into 4 areas:

1. Evaluation of the Practice

71 of you made very positive comments including for example:

“very good practice providing good patient care”, “running very efficiently”, “would recommend it to anyone new to the area”, “not at all ageist”, “reception staff friendly and professional”, “(as a housebound patient) service very flexible”

You are not all clear about when and how to get the best appointment to suit you.

“difficult to get through on the telephone and by the time the call is answered often no appointments for that day”,(10) “ never seem to be offered early morning appointments”, “unless you come regularly I don’t think you would be aware (of the options)”; pre-bookable/afternoon appointments difficult to obtain” (7), “booking system improved recently” (4).

3. General Concerns

You said

“premises too small with difficult access (ie stairs to 2 of consulting rooms)”(16), “time-lag between ordering repeat prescriptions and receipt of medicine”, “busy practice needs more doctors/nurses”, “cancellation of the ‘flu vaccinations”, “if doctor is running late, the patients should be advised”, “lots of information is displayed…..some messages become ‘lost’ as there are so many”.

4. Suggestions

You said:

a)Operate a ticket system and allow patients queuingin the morning to wait inside”

b)The surgery should open between 1pm and 2pm and late night appointments should be extended to 8pm for working people

c)It would be good to be kept up to date with the proposed new surgery

d)It would be good to have a BCP leaflet available at reception with all relevant information

e)Can we have the quarterly newsletter sent out by email?

The PPG held 3 meetings to discuss the survey results and a member of the practice was present at each one so that any proposals could be discussed.

The PPG proposed there should be action on the following:

·More information, particularly on the appointment options

ACTION The Practice has responded by

a) commissioning a new A3 poster for the front window of the surgery giving specific information of appointment options, and surgery opening times and

b) making the leaflet drawn up last year, not only available to new patients butfreely available in the waiting area and also directly from reception staff.

NB: Please see the tabs above for more information on appointment options and opening hours

·To raise awareness for patients requiring level access to be seen in a downstairs consulting room

ACTION The Practice will display information regarding this; it is helpful for patients to identify this need in advance; the PPG will also reinforce this information in its Newsletter

The Practice is unable to add any additional opening hours as it has a duty to maintain ‘core’ opening times, and without additional staff it cannot extend current hours.

·Reducing the need felt by patients to queue for appointments in the morning

ACTION The Practice is offering increasing numbers of pre-bookable appointments both by telephone and on line. To change long established patient habits in this matter will take time.

·More information regarding the re-location of the surgery

ACTION The Practice is now in a position to broadcast the news regarding the move to the new Surgery and has plans to inform and update the information over the next year both within the surgery and by direct mailings.

·More dynamic publicity for the PPG

ACTION The Practice has enlarged the specific area within the waiting room for displaying all PPG related items and agreed to support an upgrade of the notice board to a more eye-catching style.

·Distribution of quarterly newsletter by email

ACTION The Practice publishes the Newsletter on line as well as making it available in the surgery. Patients can also request for the newsletter to be emailed to them via the website.

The PPG invitespatients to join the Group, either in person or as a virtual member. Please feel free to contact the group with any questions or queries either by placing in the Suggestions box at the surgery or via email : thebromleycommonpracticeppg@nhs.net

23.03.13

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